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Public Invited to Columbia College Measure E Building Ribbon Cutting Celebration

Contact: Office of the College            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
President, Coni Chavez,                          August 3, 2011
(209) 588-5115      

An historic event will take place at Columbia College on Thursday, August 25 and the public is invited to attend.  The ribbon cutting celebration for the Sugar Pine Building will be held at 11:00 a.m.  The building was funded by Measure E, which was passed in November 2004 by voters in the area served by the Yosemite Community College District (YCCD), of which Columbia College is a part.  "I want to sincerely thank the generous voters of our counties for making this possible. The Science and Natural Resources building will provide our students and community with new opportunities and resources to explore a broad range of sciences. Some of the strongest employment opportunities in our region are in science and related health occupations. This facility will help Columbia College better serve students in those areas." Dr. Dennis Gervin, Columbia College President.  

Columbia College’s science and natural resources building, Sugar Pine, is now one of the largest buildings on campus.  A two story structure, it is designed for 21,000 sq. ft. of interior space, and a total of 33,661 sq. ft. when including all exterior covered areas. The new structure will provide students with classrooms, labs, offices, and study rooms for biology, chemistry, physics, anatomy, earth sciences, geology, forestry, and GIS (geographic information systems).  Among its energy conservation features are geothermal cooling for the cadaver lab, solar electric power, high efficiency electrical transformers, high efficiency heating and air-conditioning systems, solar water heating, sky lights, and a hands-on energy metering system to measure energy efficiencies.  Its multiple energy conservation features qualify the building for a national LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification.  The $22.4 million facility was designed by Lionakis of Sacramento and project management is by Kitchell, CEM of Modesto.   

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Coni M. Chavez
 Executive Assistant to the President
 Columbia College
 11600 Columbia College Drive
 Sonora, CA 95370
 (209) 588-5115 • (209) 588-5161 fax
 chavezc@yosemite.edu